There are a number of sports in which participants frequently experience hard collisions and/or falls. These sports are generally considered impact-sports (or high-impact sports) and include, for example, hockey, football, lacrosse, downhill skiing, snowboarding and short-track speed skating. A participant of such an activity may suffer severe neck and other related injuries as a result of having his/her head in an unsafe position. For example, the head of a participant may be tilted too far forward, relative to the body, at a moment of impact. Learning to maintain an appropriate head angle during these types of activities must be taught to young and/or inexperienced participants that would otherwise typically have the tendency to put their heads down when learning the particular activity.
During the game of football (American rules, e.g. as in the NFL™), for example, position-players such as running-backs, safeties, and linebackers receive and deliver forceful tackles and blocks. In such maneuvers it is essential that a player keep their head up and not down, or else suffer the risk of spinal injury upon impact. Young and/or inexperienced football players must be taught to keep their heads up relative to their bodies, as it is the natural tendency for inexperienced players to lower their heads.
In a similar example, during the game of hockey a player that tends to tilt his head downward relative to his body, might suffer a serious injury during a collision that he was unprepared for because he was unaware of the game around him. The unsafe head position, at the moment of impact, may even result in severe spinal damage. This risk increases during play near the boards, where accidental and/or purposeful cross-checking is common.
By contrast, non-impact or low-impact sports (e.g. golf, baseball and the like) are rarely, if ever, associated with severe spinal injuries stemming from a forceful collision. Participants in such activities maintain a relatively stationary position and it is easier to track their movement to develop idealized swing movements. Accordingly, electro-mechanical systems for non-impact or low-impact activities have been developed to serve as teaching aids to help participants improve a swing. The complexity of these systems tends to restrict their use to practice situations, since the equipment cannot be integrated into a form that would make it easy for a player to manage during a real-game situation. Moreover, such systems are generally considered illegal aids in real-game situations due to their bulk.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,048,324, 5447,305, 5,428,846, and 5,380,001 all to Socci et al. are specific examples of complex electro-mechanical systems that are employed as teaching aids specifically for use in batting practice for baseball. The systems include components such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, fragile mercury sensors, motors, and linking mechanisms that are employed to measure motion, momentum and angular forces. Additionally, these systems, as described, require external connections that simply cannot be safely allowed in impact-sports like hockey because they would be hazardous to other players. A helmet including such a system would be deemed unsafe for use in a game like hockey by organizations, such as the American Standards Association™, that provide strict specifications for the design of sport-specific helmets.